Ice Shards and Rose Petals
by Fifth Horseman
Summary: As strong as ice can be, it can shatter, pieces falling like fragile rose petals. Rose petals wither and blacken in the cold. The possibility of losing something can make you realize just how much it means to you. Feelings of friendship, maybe something deeper, to someone who has known little of either, the thought of losing it is terrifying.


**Disclaimer:** RWBY belongs to Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth. I own nothing of it and am only playing in this wonderful world Monty gave us.

 **AN:** I apologize for any rust, it has been a year since I last wrote anything. This is another character piece, which seems to have become my thing.

Reviews would be appreciated. Flamers will be treated in the manner they deserve.

 **Ice Shards and Rose Petals**

 _ **Beacon Academy: Locker Room Showers**_

It was late enough that most students were back in their dorm rooms for the evening after enjoying their weekends and unwinding from the stresses of learning to be Huntsmen and Huntresses. Studying, doing homework, relaxing, interacting with their team mates or otherwise preparing for the lessons they would partake in the following day. In other words it was business as usual for a Sunday evening among the cadre of students at what was acknowledged to be the finest of all the training academies for Huntsmen and Huntresses on all of Remnant.

Except for one student in particular.

In the farthest back corner of the shower room, steam billowed out above the lone stall in use. Judging by the amount of the water vapour that clouded the air the shower had been running for a significant length of time. Within that stall and shrouded by the steam was a pale skinned, white haired, petite seventeen year old girl. Head down and arms hanging loosely at her sides she stood unmoving beneath the heated spray and her eyes staring unfocused at the tiled floor. Even she couldn't hazard a guess as to how long she had stood like this, she only knew that no matter how long it had been it wasn't enough to thaw the cold feeling that had seated itself deep within her.

Nor had it done anything to ease the confused and agitated thoughts that were plaguing her mind and had been for the last day. This was not how things were supposed to be, not how her life was supposed to be progressing. She wasn't supposed to feel so uncertain or unsure. She wasn't supposed to feel so confused and conflicted. She wasn't supposed to feel so much despair and hurt and disgust with herself. Right now nothing was right, nothing was good and she didn't know what to do about it. That was unknown and frightening territory for someone like Weiss Schnee.

When she had departed from her home in Atlas to make the journey to Vale and Beacon Academy, all had been right with her world. Everything was going according to plan. It was a just reward for having finally gotten her way with her father after a long and arduous process of trying to convince him that he should allow her to train and be educated at Beacon. His reasoning had centred around the usual arguments. If she was bound and determined to become a Huntress he could more than easily afford to have her tutored by the finest instructors money could provide, all in the safety of the fortress that her home had long since become. A scenario whereby she could be watched and scrutinized at all times and all of her successes and failures reported directly to him.

He would have preferred her to not become a Huntress at all, but it wasn't like he could reasonably keep her from it if that was what she desired. He had allowed Winter to become one and she had obviously shown enough skill that she should be allowed to follow in her older sister's footsteps. He had been glad to hear that she had no great desire however to go to the academy in Atlas and wind up pressed into the military and the Special Operatives unit like her sister had been. But he hadn't been pleased that her choice of options was to travel all the way to Vale and Beacon Academy and be so far out of reach.

He had nothing against Beacon, it was regarded as the best of the academies for good reason and the standards were high as they should be for anyone who wanted to make a life out of being a Huntsman or Huntress. But his paranoia over the safety of family and colleagues in the midst of the ongoing blood war between the Schnee Dust Company and the White Fang tended to overrule everything else. She argued that making a reputation for herself and on her own terms would be beneficial in the long run when she finally took over the company. How would the White Fang or any other adversary ever take her seriously as an opponent and someone to be wary of if she played the role of the harmless, pretty little bird kept hidden away in a cage before her time came to take centre stage and run the company?

The prestige of graduating from Beacon. The achievements she could rack up as a Huntress. The reputation she could build for herself out in the world would serve her better than being taught at home and biding her time at some mind numbing job that would only serve to further indoctrinate her into her father's way of thinking and turn her into an obedient puppet who would continue to run the SDC his way and continue to lead it down the questionable and shadowy pathways he had put it upon. While she hadn't made that a part of her arguments to him, that was exactly how she felt and it galled her to see what he was doing with the company her grandfather had worked so hard to build and bring to prominence.

In the end he had finally relented but it had cost her a lot of emotional capital to gain that hard won victory. Her father could be horrendously stubborn and relentless and due to the conflict with the White Fang he was often very angry and finding a time when he was receptive to even talking about the idea of her going to Beacon had been exceedingly difficult. Finding those moments and then battling back and forth over it had tested her resolve and left her at times feeling like an insignificant little mouse beneath his anger and force of personality. The encounters always left her shaking and feeling drained regardless of whether she won or lost and at times it seemed like a hopeless endeavour. But, as was her way, she persevered despite the exhausting toll the fear and anxiety had taken on her. She spent hours putting together her arguments and studying them from every angle of attack that she could foresee her father using to defeat them.

When she finally got her way she didn't know if it was because he thought her arguments were sound and had merit, if he had been impressed by her preparation and tenaciousness, or if she had simply outlasted his resistance and he had tired of the countless discussions over it. However she was more relieved that it was over than happy that she had finally gotten her way. That sense of satisfaction wouldn't really begin to kick in until she was finally on the airship and on her way to Beacon.

During the long flight she had realized that she now had a level of freedom that she had never known before. She was no longer a virtual shut in, imprisoned in her own home for safety reasons and never leaving without a heavily armed escort. Even trying to do something that should have been as fun and relaxing as going shopping had become more bother than it was worth, what with all the advance planning of main and alternate travel routes, the number of personnel and vehicles that would be needed for security and so on. It took several days advanced notice to be able to go and she always had the feeling that the staff resented her for it. It had become such a miserable experience that she gave it up, getting all of her clothes from a tailor on the household staff or occasionally from an outside source they sent the measurements and requirements to.

While this new freedom was indeed welcome, it was also daunting in a way but she felt that she was at least skilled enough at this juncture to be able to keep herself safe and fend off any would be attackers. If she couldn't do at least that much, then she had no place at any of the academies since the Grimm were not the only enemies a Huntress may be forced to confront. Be they human or faunus, there were other predators on this world that needed to be accounted for and dealt with just as readily.

With as much as she had wanted to attend a place like Beacon, she had an equal desire to simply just get away from the dim and oppressive atmosphere that was her home. With the conflict against the White Fang there was always a certain tangible tension around the estate and the epic rages her father would go into were truly frightening to behold. There was very little in the way of a family atmosphere about the place, if there ever had been such a thing there at all. She simply felt like it was imperative that she get away from the place and the best way to remove herself from all of this was to remove herself not just from the family estate, but Atlas as well.

This would also be an opportunity for her to meet new people and perhaps even make some friends, something she'd had precious little opportunity to do before with all of her training, tutoring and learning how to be a proper member of society's elite. The isolated nature of her upbringing had robbed her of any real chance to make and have friends. Sure, the estate had a large staff, but they were servants and expected to be exactly that. They were paid to do their jobs competently and professionally, not to be friends with members of the family. Getting too friendly meant being unemployed and labelled as a security risk. For her, growing up had been like being all alone in the midst of a crowd that catered to your every whim, but otherwise treated you like you didn't exist.

But now that she had gotten what she wanted, she could work to put all of the that behind her, to make an effort to rid herself of the crippling loneliness and the strife and suffocating emptiness of life at the family estate. She had a great vision for herself where she would arrive at Beacon like the next great prodigy to grace its halls. She would excel at every subject and every assignment given to her. She would be a leader and be recognized for the deadly grace and elegance of her fighting style. She would be popular and be not just at the top of the academic and combat abilities rosters, but also be atop the social scene, all on the strength of her own merits and accomplishments.

One thing that she had forgotten however, something that she had learned in her combat and strategy training with numerous highly qualified instructors, was that no plan ever survived contact with the enemy. No matter how well you planned or how long or thoroughly you thought your future actions through, the best laid plans and schemes had a way of being rerouted, derailed, or run into the ditch by even the smallest of outside factors. There was always something you hadn't accounted for or didn't foresee as having nearly the impact that it did. Those unseen factors required you to be adaptable in order to keep your scenario on the path to success and come out ahead under even the most trying of circumstances.

That one unseen factor that presented itself to Weiss Schnee came into her life and literally crashed into her plans no more than five minutes after she stepped off the airship and was triumphantly taking in the grand spectacle before her that was Beacon Academy. That factor had silver eyes, was dressed in black and red, and wore a red hooded cloak. Best laid plans of Weiss Schnee, meet Ruby Rose.

Her small, pale fist thudded weakly against the shower wall. Two years her junior and wielding a weapon twice her size, the best and worst experiences of her stay at Beacon thus far seemed to all revolve around the hyperactive weapon and cookie fanatic from the island of Patch. No matter what she thought of herself it had been pretty classless of her to berate the girl the way she had upon the disaster that was their first meeting. Falling over her luggage really had been an accident and instead of accepting the apology she was given she chose to display the very worst traits of a privileged upbringing. Instead of showing some understanding, patience and grace, she flew off the handle and harangued the poor girl and talked down to her like she was a simpleton.

As if that hadn't been a disgraceful enough show of her arrogance, she proceeded to needlessly let the girl have it a second time once they were all inside school to be welcomed by the headmaster, going so far as to butt into a conversation between Ruby and her sister to do so. Knowing now what she didn't know then, she considered herself quite fortunate that Yang hadn't knocked her out through the doors and back into the courtyard with a good right hook and a blast from Ember Celica for being so disrespectful to her little sister.

Through fate or karma it only stood to reason that the next day would see her and Ruby end up as partners and then having the added indignity of Ruby being named team leader instead of her. It was a blow that her pride and sense of accomplishment and privilege simply could not abide and it left her seething. How dare they place a bumbling child, who shouldn't even be at Beacon for another two years, in charge of her when she had worked so long and hard to get here! Even when Ruby had given her the key to defeating the Boarbatusk in Professor Port's class, she had snapped at her. Afterwards in her grossly inflated sense of self importance she had nearly reduced the girl to tears with her words about her immaturity and lack of fitness to be a leader. Such hypocrisy. Her actions and attitude had been even more immature than what she accused Ruby of and it wasn't until Professor Port had taken her down a well deserved notch or two that she began to see just how crass her own behaviour had been.

Instead of being an example of class and elegance like one of her standing should be, she had acted like an ill mannered boor. A spoiled brat little rich girl who threw a tantrum and who had the audacity to accuse those who had much more experience and ability to judge the talents of others of being mistaken in their choice of team leader. Beacon was the top training academy on Remnant and what made or broke the reputation of any academy was the abilities of its teachers. She knew nothing of the accomplishments of the headmaster or the professors here, but they would not be here and as highly regarded as they were if they had not been exceptional Huntsmen and Huntresses themselves. Just who was she to be able to call them and their judgment into question?

It was not an occurrence that she was proud of and she spent the rest of that day and evening wandering around the campus reflecting on her poor behaviour. Was this really how she wanted to be, how she wanted to act and have others see her? She had never in her young life been as humbled or been forced to engage in so much self reflection as she had after Professor Port's words had given her a much needed wake up call. As she thought about how she had acted she went over every moment of it and realized just what exactly she had said to her partner and the look it had put on the younger girl's face. Deep hurt and rejection. She wasn't so cold and unfeeling that she couldn't feel remorse, it just took a while to kick in sometimes, and the shattered look in those watery silver eyes was haunting. Unfortunately it would not be the last time that she was responsible for putting that look on Ruby's face.

As a matter of fact, it was one of the biggest reasons why she was in the state she was right now.

 _ **The Previous Day:**_

She was angry. That in itself was not an especially uncommon occurrence nor was the specific reason for it, which happened to involve a certain red hood wearing team mate and leader. The level of anger however was new and the very few people she ran into on this Saturday afternoon as she angrily traversed the halls back to her dorm room hastily made way for her and the cold chill that swept by in her wake.

She didn't know what it was that had kept Ruby from being where she should have been and from what she should have been doing, most likely she forgot or had some lame excuse. Or both. Whatever it may be it was doubly frustrating since the scheduled activity for the day, training with combined attacks actually, had been Ruby's idea. She had enthusiastically booked a training room for them nearly a full week ago and yet she had failed to show up. No calls, no messages, and her own attempts to reach her partner had all been met with failure.

Anger wasn't the only emotion fuelling her at the moment however. While she had never admitted it to the cookie loving scythe wielder, for reasons that she didn't even really understand herself, she did consider Ruby to be her friend and probably even her best friend. Right from the start, even with the disdain coming from her and with Ruby's own difficulties in dealing with other people not named Yang, Ruby had always tried to make friends with her and it wasn't just because they had become partners. Ruby really did want to be friends and it didn't seem to matter how difficult she tried to make it for her to do so.

She supposed that stemmed from her own upbringing where she had been very lonely a great deal of the time and indoctrinated in the family trait of not trusting others easily. It was too easy to be hurt or betrayed if you did and it made it hard for her to open up and let someone in. Even now she had never told Ruby or anyone else very much about her life even as she found herself becoming more and more comfortable around them. She had been thinking about that a lot lately and how she had changed just in the short time that she had been at Beacon and known Ruby and the others. They actually accepted her still often prickly and rather uppity nature, but they also would make fun of her for it and she found that she really didn't mind much anymore. It was a sign of their acceptance despite some of the things she had said and the attitude she had hit everyone over the head with upon her arrival.

But none had been more accepting of her or had done so sooner it seemed than Ruby. Before she had even known it they had fallen into a banter where Ruby could make fun of her being rich and she could call Ruby a dunce, but there was no malice coming from either of them. They were just about as opposite of one another as two people could be, yet it worked for them both as friends and as partners where they seemed to have been able to work together well quite quickly. She had gained a great deal of respect for Ruby's fighting ability and for how hard she worked at it. Despite having trained to be a Huntress longer, she had trouble keeping up with her and it was a bit of a kick to her pride that a fifteen year old had more stamina than she did but she _would_ catch up and be able to keep up. Someone had to try and keep her out of trouble after all and she had promised to be the best team mate she could ever have.

Among her recent thoughts was a somewhat puzzling feeling that she had been having more and more often lately. While acknowledging at least to her self that Ruby was indeed her best friend, she had been wanting to spend more and more time around her and she really didn't know why. She had been wondering if maybe it was because Ruby had become the first real, true friend she had ever had and she was clinging to that maybe a little too tightly because she didn't want to lose that feeling. That explanation had merit but it didn't feel like it was entirely the reason. She didn't know what else it might be and hadn't really had the opportunity to think too deeply on it just yet but she was sure she would figure it out in time.

It was that feeling of wanting to spend time with Ruby that had made her agree to spending part of her Saturday training with the girl. She hadn't let it show on her face, but inwardly she had been quite happy about it. Sure, she liked to train with the team as a whole and they had already made some wonderful progress in learning to work together and combining some of their techniques, but Ruby was her partner and the person she would most likely spend the most time fighting and working alongside. They were going to see what other effects they could produce between her glyphs and Ruby's bullets. Firing through an ice glyph had worked well in slowing down the Paladin piloted by Roman Torchwick, but there could be other effects with different types of dust and glyphs that could yield useful and effective results for them.

But when Ruby didn't show up and she couldn't reach her on her scroll, the other emotion that accompanied her anger made itself present. Hurt. It hurt that that she had been left sitting there waiting with no word or idea why. She had thought that Ruby had gone to the maintenance shops to reload some rounds for Crescent Rose, she had known that she was running low, and would meet her at the training room when she was done. As she waited and waited and got angrier the whole time, that hurt began to flood in and that only served to make her angrier yet. Sitting there alone reminded her way too much of all of the times she had been alone within her own home. When not training or schooling with tutors or learning the finer points of etiquette and manners, she was otherwise left utterly alone. Even when she was engaged in those other activities the emotional detachment and lack of any warmth she felt from those educating her made her feel completely isolated. She hated it and now someone who was supposed to be her friend had left her alone for who knows what reason.

It hurt more than she could understand why.

Upon reaching the dorm room she pushed the door open with no hesitation or reservation. If someone got hit with it they'd just have to deal with it. She really wasn't in the mood to be courteous or forgiving.

"Weiss!" the red garbed object of her displeasure exclaimed happily. "I was waiting for you. Where were you...never mind it doesn't matter. With a little help from Doctor Oobleck I got two tickets to the Vale Museum for next weekend! They're have a huge special exhibition on Huntsmen and Huntresses leading up to the Vytal Festival! It's going to be sooooo cool, you gotta go with me Weiss, it'll be so much fun! There'll be weapons exhibits and stuff showing the history from as far back as they know it and there is supposed to be a retired Huntsman and Huntress there who wrote books about their adventures. I gotta get my hands on those. Oh, and there's a new little cafe that just opened right next to the museum and they have really awesome sweets and the coffee is great."

"Geez Ruby, sounds like you're asking her out on a date," Yang teased from her position by the window. "Trying to sweep Weiss off her feet?"

Predictably Ruby's face turned as red as her cape. "Yang!" she hollered, arms waving around for emphasis. "I-t's nothing like that. It's not a date! Why would you even say that?!"

"I don't know," the blonde said dubiously. "The museum and sweets and coffee...sounds like a date to me. A boring one maybe but still a date."

Too busy with their arguing, neither of the sisters noticed that her fists were clenched so tightly at her sides that she was on the verge of drawing blood, nor did they see the intense angry stare she was directing at a spot on the floor somewhere between her and them. She suspected that Blake, who was sitting on her bed and hiding behind a book had noticed, since she could see the girl peering at her over the top of said book out of the corner of her eye. Not to mention that to further her discomfort the mention of Ruby asking her on a date had made her face heat up and intensify that hurt and confused feeling she already had. She was seeing red so there was little chance of being able to ponder that at the moment and figure out what it meant.

"So," she began tightly. "You were in Vale getting tickets for the museum."

The sound of her voice put an end to the teasing and sputtering denials. "Actually, that was kind of a happy stroke of luck," Ruby chirped not noticing her partner's tone. "Doctor Oobleck was on his way to the city too and asked me if I was interested in the exhibit and he helped me get the tickets. I was actually going because I had ordered something and it was ready to be picked up."

Yang chuckled. "Yeah, something you bought just for the girl you _'didn't'_ just ask out on a date." It was a big sister's job to tease her little sister after all.

"Yang, you weren't supposed to say anything!" Ruby squawked indignantly. "And it's not a date!"

"Do you want to know where I was while you were in Vale?" Weiss interjected, her voice cold and hard. "I know you don't really care because you've already dismissed it as being unimportant." Judging by their reactions she had their undivided attention now. Her gaze was firmly fixed on Ruby who flinched under the intensity of it. "I was in one of the training rooms. The room that _you_ booked for us last week so we could train today. Training that _you_ never showed up for!"

Ruby's silver eyes went wide and her face went from blushing red to pale white in no time flat. Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times but no sound seemed to be coming forth.

"You completely forgot didn't you?" Weiss accused, her voice rising. "You never miss an opportunity to train but some stupid errand was so distracting that you forgot?!"

"Okay, ease up a bit Weiss," Yang interrupted.

"I will not!" the Schnee heiress shot back, her anger flaring. "This has nothing to do with you so stay out of it!"

She could tell that Yang was about to dispute that. Anything that had to do with her little sister was something she most certainly did consider as having something to do with her. Before she could speak again or move Blake reached out and grabbed her leather back skirt and tugged to get her attention. When they locked eyes Blake shook her head 'no' and refused to release her hold thus keeping the blonde in place.

"I'm really sorry Weiss," Ruby apologized. She was already starting to fold in on herself if the slumping of her shoulders and the nervous wringing of her hands was any indication. "They called me a couple of days ago to say my package was in and I was really excited about going to pick it up."

"Where's your scroll?" she questioned icily, already suspecting the answer. "I called you or tried to send a message numerous times but nothing went through. And you certainly didn't try to contact me."

Ruby flinched. "I...forgot to charge it last night," she said quietly. The younger girl almost yelped when she saw her jaw clench and that she was literally now shaking in anger. "I-I know you reminded me to plug it in and I was going to when I got out of the shower but I forgot," she explained in a rush.

"Just when I thought you were becoming _less_ irresponsible," she nearly growled. "I came up with a few ideas we could have tried and the situations where we might run into them and they'd be useful. I was actually looking forward to it but instead I spent three hours, _alone_ , waiting for you, my partner, my team leader, and the person who keeps claiming that they're my friend."

"I am your friend Weiss," Ruby exclaimed desperately.

"Then why didn't you remember?!" she shot back hard enough to make the younger girl visibly start shaking and almost literally wither before her. "Do you know how humiliating it was to be left waiting there alone like that? Do you know how much it hurt?"

She hadn't meant to say that, that was giving away too much and revealed too much of how she really felt about being not just a partner but a friend. She wasn't ready to let others know that even if they may have seen through her often cold exterior and already knew. She was still at war with that ingrained part of her upbringing that demanded others be kept at arm's length, no matter how much she may want it otherwise.

"I'm so sorry Weiss," Ruby apologized again, nervously shuffling closer to her. "What can I do?"

She huffed. "Maybe when your scroll is charged you can call your Father or Uncle and find out if there's still a seat for you at Signal."

She turned and stormed out the door, but she wasn't fast enough to miss the utterly shattered look on Ruby's face.

 _ **The Present:**_

She fell to her hands and knees under the cascading water. Why had she said that?! Why had she said something so hurtful to Ruby?! Did she really feel the need that badly to turn the hurt she felt right back on her? This was no different than what she had done when she didn't like Ruby being named as the team leader. She'd thrown a fit and said terrible things then and she had done the exact same thing again in this situation. Why was she so bloody determined to hurt that girl when all Ruby wanted to do was be her friend?

She thumped her fist against the floor. Damn her father and damn her upbringing where she was bred to view everyone around her with open suspicion if not out right disdain, and damn her for sticking to that blind ideology for so long. It was so much easier to just automatically follow that conditioning than it was to think for herself when she was angry or hurt and that usually resulted in someone else getting hurt. And once again the person that got hurt was Ruby. It was no different than what she had done with Blake. She had allowed hatred of the White Fang to lead her to distrusting everything about the Faunus, to look at all of them with suspicion even though she should have known that not all Faunus were like the members of the Fang that had taken up violence to get their way. Instead of using her head and forming her own opinions, she had instantly fallen back on the beliefs of her father that she had spent so long nearly drowning in.

She knew how badly she had messed up again this time the moment she fled the room. She felt so disgusted with herself that she could hardly breathe. She had sworn to herself that she would never again do or say something that would return that shattered look to Ruby's face but that thought had been nowhere in her mind as she once again cut the girl to the bone with her words. The first time she had been spiteful and full of herself, angry that she hadn't gotten her way. She had been angry this time as well and she felt she had a right to be. It had been terribly irresponsible for Ruby to be so distracted over some package that she would entirely forget about a training session that she herself had arranged and been so enthusiastic about. But, she should have tempered that anger before going back to her dorm room and maybe she would have if she hadn't felt so hurt along with it.

She fled the building and set off through the sprawling campus, paying no attention at all to the picturesque surroundings until she eventually found herself at Beacon Cliff and looking out over the Emerald Forest. Her mind had been in such a state of turmoil that she hadn't even realized that she had wandered around for well over an hour before finally arriving there. She couldn't seem to focus her thoughts and it made her want to scream in frustration. She tried to regain her composure by turning her attention to the sea of green before her as the foliage rustled and swayed in the breeze. It was a partially successful endeavour as she did eventually lessen the frantic pounding of thoughts hammering around inside her head to something more like a dull throb.

The sudden sound of her scroll's ring tone shattered that moment and had her nearly stumbling over the edge of the cliff. She knew who would be calling and she knew it would just continue to keep ringing if she didn't do something about it. She pulled the device from her belt and shut it off, not even needing to see the name Ruby Rose on the screen. She knew that she was hurting her partner even more by cutting the call off without answering it but she didn't think she was capable of speaking at the moment and had no idea what she could possibly say right now anyway that would be of any help whatsoever. It only served to make her feel even worse than she already did.

Daylight was beginning to fade by the time she left the cliff and headed back to the school. There was no way she could possibly go back to the dorm room and face any of them now, especially when she still didn't have herself sorted out yet. Fortunately she did have a workable alternative. She knew that not all of the rooms in the guest dormitories had been used by visiting students. There had been some renovation work under way which stopped when the staff realized they didn't need all of the rooms and they didn't want to disturb the exchange students by continuing the work while they were there. She had discovered it on one of her 'missions' to scope out the competition leading up to the Vytal Festival and the combat tournament. She chose a room that was furthest away from the occupied section but also near an exit so that she could come and go without notice. It was a carbon copy of all of the other dorm rooms at Beacon. With the room not being used, there were of course no linens for the beds or towels for the bathroom. The heat worked as did the sink and toilet but unfortunately the shower didn't.

After staking her claim she left long enough to grab some sandwiches from the cafeteria. With dinner all but over there would be few people there and she knew the members of her team would be gone by then. Afterwards she hit the locker rooms for a quick shower before locking herself into her borrowed room for the night. A horrible and miserable night that saw her get precious little sleep as she continued to wrestle with what she had said and with another dilemma that it had freshly returned to the forefront of her mind.

Just who was she exactly? Was she the snobby heiress who arrived here so full of herself and who was willing to use others in the same way she had always despised people wanting to use her in order to get ahead? There was no mistake that that was exactly what she had been trying to do. The first person she tried to befriend had been Pyrrha Nikos but it hadn't been for reasons of pure friendship. No, it had been so that she could use the other girl's name and fame, tie it to her name and notoriety and push herself ahead of everyone else. The Invincible Girl of Mistral and the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, they would be a pair that no one would be able to surpass and Weiss Schnee would be well on her way to making a name for herself that others could only envy. She had always hated it when people had tried to befriend her just so they or their families could gain favour from the Schnee name, yet she had been determined to do the exact same thing to Pyrrha, someone else who had since become a real friend.

Or, was she the girl who had gotten a much needed dose of cold reality dumped on that snobby heiress persona that served to set her on the course to discover what it was like to have a real friend, someone who really did want to be around you not for the benefit of your name but for the pleasure of your company? It had been a slow process for her to recognize the budding friendship with Ruby for what it was, maybe not even fully realizing it until her sharp tongue had most assuredly now destroyed it.

She had been making progress. While she really hadn't opened herself up and let the others in or shared much about her life before coming to Beacon, she had opened up just enough to start accepting those around her and let herself soak in everything that came with associating with them. Slowly she began to involve herself more in things with them away from just learning and training. She became involved and invested in their lives, found common likes and dislikes, shared good moments and bad. It was only just recently that she began to realize that she had already obtained something she had been looking for when she made up her mind to leave Atlas and train at Beacon.

Freedom. The freedom of not feeling as tied down to her family and her father and dependant upon his every whim. The freedom of being outside of his control. The freedom of having the room and the space to make her own choices and live with the consequences of them. The freedom to find and make friends. Real, true friends that she could spend time with an go and do things with that she had never gotten to do before, or at least be able to do them without being surrounded by a security detail and have practically every step she took planned out for her own safety. She realized that she had been having fun, even with all of the crazy stuff Team RWBY always seemed to manage to get itself in the middle of. Even as first year students that hadn't much more than cleared a single semester yet, they had already done things that their peers hadn't and were already making a difference, doing their best to protect the people and this was just the start. They would get better, stronger, and more powerful.

She had realized that she was probably happier than she could ever remember being at any point in her life and she owed it primarily to Ruby's persistence. She had grown up having all of the things that were unimportant and none of the things that were. The friends she had made here and the things she had done with them were worth more than all of the material things, the tutored education and training, and the lessons on etiquette and proper behaviour put together. Because of Ruby Rose she hadn't felt so lonely anymore and that was more valuable to her than all of the dust the SDC could mine. That friendship had provided her with many moments where she was able to forget all of the power and baggage that came with the name Schnee. It was priceless and irreplaceable and that was why it hurt so much to know that she had screwed it up herself and that the insidious despair of loneliness was returning with a vengeance to sink its claws into her once more.

She felt like a zombie by the time morning came. Waiting until she knew her team would be at breakfast, she went to the dorm room with the aim of retrieving some fresh clothes, her bathing supplies and her school books. Her timing wasn't as perfect as she hoped and she nearly ran into them, only ducking around a corner just in time to avoid being seen. What she saw only made her feel worse. Ruby, still in her Huntress attire, was shuffling along with her head down, arms wrapped around the plain paper wrapped bundle that was the package she had gone to Vale to pick up, the item she had bought for her. She was clinging to it like a drowning person would to a life preserver and she was probably only going to the dining hall because Yang was making her go. She looked like she hadn't slept much either and looked utterly miserable which hit her like a knife in the heart. Yang looked worried and wouldn't take her eyes off of her little sister and Blake looked concerned for them both.

She remained out of sight for a few moments longer, taking the time to reluctantly turn on her scroll and note that there had been a few more attempts at calling her, including one this morning, and a couple of messages had been left. She hung her head as she shut the scroll off again, knowing that every failed attempt at contact was only hurting her socially fragile partner even more and she hated herself for it. She was only going to make it worse too since there was no way that they wouldn't realize that she had been back to the room while they were out. Her self loathing increased with every step there and back and it didn't get any better as she hid in her borrowed room.

She tried to distract herself by studying and reviewing her homework but it didn't work. Same for staring out the window and watching other students go about their Sunday and enjoying the beauty of the sprawling campus on a sunny day. Soon enough she found herself sitting on the bed with her back to the wall and turning on her scroll. There had been another attempt to call her after breakfast, most likely after they discovered she had been at their dorm room while they were out. Against her better judgment she opened the messages.

The first one was from Ruby and was a little incoherent, which was understandable considering the state the girl was in. She repeatedly apologized for her forgetfulness and for making her angry, for hurting her. She pleaded to be forgiven and promised, promised, promised, that she would do anything it took to earn that forgiveness and regain the trust of her partner and her best friend and heal the hurt she had caused. She could tell by the way it was worded that she had shattered the younger girl's confidence with what she had said to her and it made her feel sick. Best friend. What kind of a best friend said what she did, caused the hurt that she did and then continued to do further harm by cutting off all contact?

The second message was from Yang and surprisingly its tone didn't seem angry. She probably had Ruby's influence to thank for that. It didn't mince words though, the blonde made it clear that she thought both her and Ruby had messed up big time but she would let them work it out amongst themselves, provided they didn't let it drag on in which case she would make sure the two of them got locked in a closet somewhere until they fixed this. Better than an angry right hook she supposed but she would almost be willing to take that right now over having to look into those sad silver eyes. She knew Yang would do it too. Both the right cross and the locking them in closet, and she would lock them in and leave them there way longer than necessary too just to give herself extra teasing material to work with. They would mercilessly be teased about what kind of things they had been doing in there and it would serve to remind them of how stupid they had both been.

She turned the scroll off and leaned her head back against the wall, sighing heavily. That notion brought forth to her thoughts one of the other things that had been sitting in her mind waiting for her to stop putting it off and finally address it. Just what exactly was the nature of her feelings towards Ruby? If it was just merely friendship, then Yang teasing her about them going on a date should not have made her face heat up the way it did, nor should it have made a flurry of butterflies scatter through her chest and stomach even with how angry she had been. Having actual friends may have been new to her, but she knew that something like that would not have affected her that way if there wasn't something else going on in her head and her heart. It hadn't been the first time either and she had to finally admit that the reason she had kept putting off figuring it out wasn't because she didn't know what that feeling meant, it was because she had a pretty good idea what it was and she was scared to death of it.

For crying out loud, she had barely been able to admit to herself that she really did see Ruby as her friend and now this? Was this really happening...and just how in the heck did it happen? Why was this happening and just what exactly was she supposed to do about it? How would Ruby react...or Yang for that matter? Could she even say anything to them about it at all? Was this feeling right, was it wrong, was she sure this was how she felt? What if she was just placing too much meaning upon the feeling of actually having someone in her life that she regarded as a friend and maybe even her best friend at that? Would Ruby hate her and be disgusted by the mere thought? What if she wasn't? What should she do about this? What _could_ she do about this?

She could do what she was doing right now, what she ended up doing after finally berating herself enough for her cowardice and making up her mind to go back to the dorm and face the music. What she ended up doing after turning tail and running again after standing outside that door, unable to enter it. Shaking like a leaf on her hands and knees in the shower struggling with who she was, struggling with which Weiss was the real one. Struggling with the emotions she might or might not be feeling about her partner and best friend. Struggling with the right or wrong of it and how she ever ended up feeling that way in the first place. Struggling with how she had so easily hurt Ruby and fearing against all else that she was going to lose her friendship because she didn't know how to make up for what she had done.

She had always been so lonely before but even then it didn't hurt as much as this did. It had been so much easier and less painful to be the cold, aloof, snobby heiress who held herself above everything and everyone. That well learned isolation of self had insulated her from all but the loneliness inherent within it. She had never had to deal with such gut tearing uncertainty about herself and being emotionally connected to others. Genuinely caring about them, having them genuinely care about her, it was all so foreign but she had been realizing that it was changing her for the better. She had felt like she was finally growing into who she was meant to be because even though it was foreign, it didn't feel wrong and she was so afraid that she had gone and undone it all.

Her eyes began to burn and well up with tears but unlike the half a dozen other times in the last day she didn't even try to hold them back. She let them come, she couldn't stand the pressure anymore of trying to stop them. Truthfully, she had been holding them back for years, never letting them go because to cry was to be seen as weak and a Schnee was not weak. She would beg to differ after what she had said to Ruby, because that most certainly had not been a sign of being strong. But since she didn't have her father or any of the staff looking over her shoulder now to judge and chastise her, she could let it all loose. She could bleed herself of the pain that the years of cold loneliness had manifested within her and if she was lucky it would take at least some of this new pain with it. So let it loose she did.

It was good that no one was around because she could probably be heard clearly out in the locker room if not beyond. Even if there was anyone there to hear it, it wasn't like she could stop it nor did she want to. She needed this, knew that without this now there was no chance of moving forward. Maybe once she had rid herself of this she would be able to think clearly again and could begin to figure out the answers to all of the questions she had about herself. Maybe then she could begin to figure out how to undo the damage that she had done and regain the friend she was so afraid that she had lost.

It was a long while later before the tears finally did stop and her breathing had calmed and returned to normal. She did feel some better if not exhausted and it proved to be a bit of a chore to get back to her feet. She turned the hot water off and let the cold slam into her, standing under the freezing spray for as long as she could take it in order to jolt herself back to full alertness and clear the haze from her mind. Turning the hot back up again she let herself get warm once more before shutting the shower off completely. Stepping into her shower flip flops she wrapped one of the towels she brought in around her body and used the other to dry her hair as thoroughly as she could. It would have to do since she hadn't picked up her hair dryer when she had snuck back to the dorm to grab a few things.

She wondered if she could muster the courage to go back to the dorm and try again. If she couldn't and she spent another night in her borrowed room then nothing was going to get resolved and it would only serve to make for a very difficult day tomorrow when she had to attend classes with Ruby and the others. Skipping classes was out of the question and would only worsen the situation even more and she had made a big enough mess of things already without adding to it. It wasn't going to be easy but she really had no other choice left now but to face it and take whatever consequences that came with it.

As she stepped from the showers and into the main part of the locker room, she heard a noise. She stopped and listened intently, trying to identify what it was and after a moment she realized that it sounded far too much like a muted version of what she had just finished enduring in the showers. She slowly took the few steps that brought her around the end of the row of lockers where hers was located and the sight before her made her heart sink. Sitting on the wooden bench in front of her locker was Ruby. Head bowed, her arms wrapped around that plain wrapped package she saw her with earlier, clutching it tightly to her chest, and tears were streaming down her face. The sound she had heard was the not quite stifled sobs that were escaping from the younger girl despite her best attempts to hold them in.

Her eyes went wide with realization. Ruby must have heard her and knowing her partner she was likely blaming herself for _her_ breakdown, thinking that she was the cause of it. If she didn't like the shattered look that she had put on Ruby's face before, she liked this look even less. Shattered plus crying, all due to the hurt she put upon her and it made her heart ache. Ruby was supposed to be manic and happy and flitting about in excitement over whatever was piquing her interest at the moment. Seeing her like this, it wasn't right. It _hurt_ to see the tears streaming down that usually cheerful face and it was only made worse by the fact that it was her who had brought Ruby to this state. At least there was no way now that she could chicken out like she had before, there was no running away from this like it had been so easy to do earlier when she had been confronted with nothing but a simple closed door standing between them.

"Ruby," she called softly, her voice cracking and husky from the emotion and loud crying earlier.

The younger girl turned and looked up at her but only for a second before her watery gaze fell back to the floor. "I'm so sorry Weiss," she apologized, her voice just as strained. "I know I messed up really, really bad." She had to stop to suppress a sob. "And I'm so sorry that I hurt you. I didn't mean to...I didn't mean to make you so angry." She squeezed the package even tighter and stood up on wobbly legs, still unable to look her in the eye. "I got distracted...I'm so stupid..."

She began to cry harder and was about to bolt when Weiss rushed to her and wrapped her arms around her from behind, refusing to let her go anywhere. "Stop," she rasped as the girl trembled in her embrace. "Don't run Ruby. Please." The words tasted sour in her mouth considering that she had done the exact same thing, but she couldn't let Ruby go in this condition and nothing would get resolved if she did.

"Weiss..." Ruby cried.

"Whether I had a reason to be angry or not, that doesn't excuse what I said to you. Feeling hurt doesn't excuse me from hurting you in return." She took a deep, shuddering breath. "I'm sorry Ruby. What I said to you was awful and I didn't mean it. I as much as said that I didn't want to be your friend and didn't want you around and that's not the truth. By running off and then not answering your calls or messages I only hurt you worse and I can't expect any forgiveness for that."

"Where did you go?" Ruby sniffled.

She guided the girl back to the bench and they sat down, she to Ruby's right. "After wandering around for a while I stayed in an unused room in the guest dorms. I was ashamed of myself and too afraid to come back or talk to you."

"You were afraid?"

She hung her head. "I was. I am." She sighed and began to fiddle nervously with end of the towel she was wrapped in. "I've never said anything to acknowledge it...and I certainly haven't done anything to show it, but you are my friend Ruby. My best friend. Certainly the first real friend I've ever had and yet I acted like anything but that. I was afraid that I had destroyed that friendship and I found that the thought of that actually scared me and it hurt so much. I couldn't bear to face you to even do so much as apologize for what I had said."

Ruby seemed to perk up a little bit at her admission of friendship. "I was afraid that I had wrecked things too," she sniffled. "It's hard enough to make friends, but it's even harder to lose one."

"Growing up, I had pretty much anything I could have wanted," Weiss began wistfully. "Material things mostly. My father was always busy with business and often enraged due to being in a constant battle against the White Fang. My sister...we have a good relationship but I don't see her very often. I respect her and admire her greatly but we weren't as close as I would have liked. That's where I envy you and Yang. The two of you are so close and you're best friends as much as you are sisters." She frowned. "Friends were a commodity that couldn't be afforded. Some people would try to get close in order to do harm, and others only tried to be friends because they wanted any benefit they could find by being close to the Schnee name. What my name could do for them meant more than any real friendship did."

"It...sounds like things were pretty lonely for you," Ruby observed quietly. She'd had a few friends before now but not a lot, and she'd always had Yang so she had never really been lonely. Loneliness seemed like such a terrible thing.

"It was," Weiss admitted. "There were servants and house staff, tutors and security people around, but none of them were friends. It was like being all alone in a crowd of people. It was one of the reasons why I worked so hard to convince my father to let me come to Beacon. I needed to get away from all of that and make a name for myself away from him and the estate. It wasn't a home, it was a fortress and I couldn't take it anymore. Once I left maybe I would be able to meet new people and make some friends." She frowned. "I also came here with a lot of lofty ideas of how I was going to do things and how things were going to be, all of which got derailed right from the start."

Ruby gave her a quizzical look. "How did that happen?"

Weiss smiled slightly. "I encountered a certain individual who quite literally crashed into my life by falling over my luggage."

Ruby's eyes widened for a moment, then lowered in defeat. "I messed up your plans didn't I?"

"No, _I_ messed up my plans," she corrected, making Ruby give her an questioning look. "Or, I had the wrong plans to begin with. You just happened to provide the catalyst for it and it is the best thing that could have happened."

"I...don't understand," Ruby said, now confused.

"Over the last week I've really begun to notice just how much my life has changed since I arrived here," Weiss began to explain. "How much I have changed and especially since I met and finally became friends with you. I felt that I was really changing for the better, but after the last twenty four hours I don't know anymore. At first I was acting like the typical snobby and arrogant rich girl who was living high on her family name and looking to walk over top of everyone else because I felt I was so far above them. I was even willing to use Pyrrha and her name in the same way people have tried to use my name to get ahead. I was treating others like they were insignificant and the person I treated the worst was you because I didn't think you belonged here and I didn't get my way in being named as team leader."

"But after Professor Port took me to task for my behaviour, I actually took the time to think and I realized just how arrogant and shallow I was being and that what I had been thinking when I arrived here was completely wrong if I really wanted to become a Huntress. It isn't about me and what I want, it's about serving and protecting the people of Remnant. By the end of one semester I had gained friends, I had become a little less...difficult to deal with and I was enjoying the experience. I was having fun despite the craziness we always seemed to get involved with. I was doing things I had never done before and I was loving it even if I didn't always let it show. That food fight...it was the best laugh I ever had and it was genuine. It was the craziest thing I have ever done. _If_ you don't count me letting someone talk me into riding on a Giant Nevermore during our initiation." She gave Ruby an amused glare and the girl grinned sheepishly.

"I think it was way cooler than Nora riding in on an Ursa."

She hummed her agreement. "We could have landed better and made a more impressive entrance though. Jaune took a beating on that one."

"The pie in the face was funny though," Ruby smiled, her mood brightening. "You looked so serious and then...splat!" He partner's raised eyebrow deflected right off of her mirth. "Pie face is always funny."

"I suppose it was at that," she admitted with a smirk. "But after what I did yesterday, I don't know which Weiss I am Ruby. What I said to you was something that would come from the Weiss Schnee that arrived here a semester ago and treated you like dirt and not the one who took a pie in the face and laughed so much after the ensuing food fight and who has come to enjoy spending time with you and our other friends. I hurt you and I ran and hid and that's the worst kind of cowardice."

"I think you're the second one," Ruby said shyly. "The one who cares enough to make me study harder and be a better leader and who tries get me to stop eating so many sweets. The one that calls me a dork and a dunce but doesn't do it to hurt me, and the one I tease about being rich and smart. You care about me and all of our friends and you do stuff with us. You wouldn't be like that if you weren't the second Weiss." She wiped away some of the lingering moisture on her cheeks. "What you said really hurt, but you wouldn't have said it if I hadn't hurt you first and made you angry."

"That doesn't make me any less guilty Ruby," she countered. "Nor does it make me any less thoughtless. I let my temper get the better of me and I fell right back into old behaviour that I thought I was leaving behind, the kind of unthinking and unfeeling attitude I was raised with and taught to have and it isn't right. It wasn't right when I used it against Blake and it wasn't right when I've used it on you. I don't want to be like that anymore Ruby and especially not towards you."

"You said you didn't mean it and I believe you Weiss," Ruby assured her. "If you meant it you wouldn't be feeling so bad about it."

"Why aren't you angry with me Ruby?" she asked, looking at her almost pleadingly. She deserved to have Ruby be angry with her, to have her shout at her and curse her name. "You may believe me but I can see that you're still hurt. You have every right to be angry and to yell at me, to tell me how horrible I am."

"You're not horrible Weiss," Ruby said softly. "I am still kind of hurt, but what good will it do me to be angry with you when you're already angry enough at yourself. Friends sometimes get mad at each other but they also get over it and stay friends. We both did or said things we shouldn't have and we hurt each other." She gave her a hopeful look. "I just want my best friend to be next to me again if she still wants to be."

"Even after I said something so terrible and then ran away?"

Ruby nodded. "We both did wrong and we both hurt each other but we apologized and meant it because we feel so bad about it." She looked her partner in the eye. "I'm sorry Weiss, and I accept your apology. I just want my friend back."

Weiss smiled lightly as she held off the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. "I'm sorry too Ruby and I accept your apology as well. I really want to be back with my friend too."

Ruby surprised her by turning and glomping her into a crushing hug, squashing the package she had been holding between them. Well, as crushing a hug as a girl her size could make it anyway. After a moment she just smiled and returned the gesture.

"Thank you Ruby," she said shakily. "I promise I will never do something like this again."

"Neither will I," Ruby vowed. "And thank you for being my friend. I know I test your patience sometimes, but I'm glad you put up with me."

"Well someone has to try and keep you out of trouble," Weiss said with a smirk. "Or a least be there to go along with you for the ride."

They separated and Ruby looked sheepishly at the package. "This was kind of the cause of my forgetfulness. It's probably pretty wrinkled up but I want to give it to you now anyway. I was afraid I wouldn't get to." She offered the bundle to Weiss.

"Why did you buy me something?" she asked as she gingerly took the package.

Ruby shrugged. "I just wanted to."

Weiss undid the package and pulled out a bundle of folded cloth. Shaking it out she saw that it was a hooded cloak like Ruby's, except it was in her colours of white and blue with a red interior, matching her jacket exactly. There was no Schnee crest on the back but the pins at the collar were shaped like snowflakes.

"Ruby..."

"I know it's probably not something you would want to wear but I thought it would be kind of neat if we both wore one since we're partners," she babbled nervously. "You don't have to...I mean it was probably a silly idea anyway."

"Ruby," Weiss stopped her. "This is custom made...how did you afford it?"

Ruby rubbed the back of her head nervously. "I did some work on a couple of weekends for that shopkeeper that Torchwick robbed before I got into Beacon. Delivering and putting up flyers and other stuff. He didn't have time to do it and paid me really well as thanks for breaking up the robbery. He even got me a discount on it, his brother is a tailor. If you don't like it I can always take it back I guess."

Weiss was almost speechless. Not only had she never really had any friends, she had certainly never had one buy her anything or go to that length to do it just because they felt like it. "You are not taking it back," she said sternly. She put it on and fastened it at her throat. "Because I love it." She smiled. "Thank you Ruby."

That put a big smile on the younger girl's face, one she was glad to finally see again. She pretended not to see the little fist pump that Ruby was trying to hide. Why did her partner have to be such an adorable little dork?

"So, um...," Ruby began shyly after a moment, her hands restlessly fiddling in her lap. "Did you...want to go to the museum with me next Saturday?" She paused. "I-it's not a date or anything despite what Yang says," she continued hurriedly, her face turning red.

"Would it be so bad if it was?" Weiss responded quietly. She turned as red as Ruby's had as soon as the words left her mouth. Why did she say that, and especially now? Had the last twenty four hours fried her brain to the point that it no longer worked? They just got things resolved from the other mess and here she was potentially starting a new one. "N-never mind," she stuttered weakly. "Forget I said that." For Dust sake what was wrong with her?

Ruby's eyes were wide. Despite what many might think, she wasn't completely clueless or oblivious to things outside of fighting, training, or anything to do with weapons. She knew that there just might be something brewing between her sister and Blake, which kind of surprised her but if there was and Yang was happy, she didn't have a problem with it. But she never would have thought of anything like that from Weiss, and not with her potentially being on the other end of it.

"Weiss...do you..."

"Honestly...I don't know Ruby," Weiss answered with a long, deflating breath. "It's another one of those confusing things that have been on my mind as I was trying to figure myself out. Something I haven't succeeded very well at it seems. I don't know if I'm just feeling too much and too deeply about actually having a real friend in my life that has taken away the loneliness, or if there is more to it than that. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"You didn't," Ruby said hurriedly, waving her hands for emphasis. "It's just that I've never thought about anything like that, well, ever. About boys or girls."

"Still, it was a stupid thing for me to say," she said self consciously. "You must think I'm being weird right now."

"Nope!" the girl smiled. "You're not being weird. I've heard that people our age always go through stuff where they try to figure out who they are and what they want." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "I don't think I've quite got there yet though. And it wasn't stupid for you to say that Weiss. If that's how you feel then that's how you feel. There's nothing wrong with that. You'll figure it out and I'll still be here no matter what. You're my best friend and I'm not going anywhere."

Tears came to her eyes again. Adorable and a dork, and the girl had a beautiful heart. "Thank you Ruby," she said with a sniffle. "And yes, I would love to go to the museum with you next Saturday. It should be a wonderful exhibit."

"Awwwww, the two of you are so cute!" Yang's voice interrupted loudly as she suddenly appeared from behind a row of lockers. Her intrusion surprised the two of them enough that they bolted to their feet from the bench.

"GAAAAH!" Ruby shrieked.

Weiss remained silent, her mouth open in surprise. Then, just to top off her day and make it complete, the towel she was wearing under her newly acquired cloak chose that particular moment to undo itself due to her sudden movement and fell to the floor at her feet.

"Well the upholstery matches," Yang smirked. "So is this why you bought that for her Ruby? A cloak as lingerie? Didn't know you were into things like that little sis."

Ruby turned to see what she was talking about and her face went red as she got an eyeful before Weiss yanked the cloak closed around her with a shriek and a glare at the blonde. "What is wrong with you!"

"Yaaang!" Ruby yelled.

"Sorry, sorry," Yang laughed, clearly not sorry at all.

"I thought you're weren't going to cause any trouble?" Blake spoke up from behind her partner.

"Is that even possible?!" Weiss groused. "Why are you here anyway...and how long have you been here?"

"Ruby got kind of frantic and ran off to try and find you," Yang said, turning serious. "I had to follow her of course."

"And I followed Yang to keep her out of your hair so the two of you could resolve things," Blake said, explaining her presence. "We got here right after Ruby did."

Weiss lowered her head and sat back down, momentarily forgetting her state of dress. "So you heard everything then. Even before Ruby and I began to talk."

"Yeah," Yang said quietly. For Ruby's sake she had kept a lid on it, but any anger she had felt towards Weiss over the incident had died when she heard her soul wrenching cries. The Ice Queen did indeed have a heart after all and apparently it was her little sister that had thawed it and was keeping it whole and warm. "Just remember Weiss, you have more friends than just Ruby that are here for you. You don't need to worry about being lonely ever again."

She looked up into the brawler's lilac eyes and saw the sincerity of her words reflected in the gentle look she was giving her. Beside her Blake smiled and nodded her agreement. "Thank you," she said gratefully. "And I'm sorry for all of the trouble I caused."

"Well you weren't entirely blameless," she drawled, casting an amused glance at Ruby. "But it's over now and you've made up so it's all good." She moved quickly to ensnare her unsuspecting sibling in a hug. "And you could do worse for a girlfriend Rubes, she's cute _and_ rich."

"Yang!" Ruby yelled, trying in vain to escape her sister. "Cut it out, it's not like that."

Weiss looked to her Faunus team mate as the sisters carried on. "I am never going to be allowed to forget what I said, am I?"

Blake smirked and shrugged. "At least if she's teasing you about it she's accepting you and the possibility. More than anything I think she's happy that the two of you worked things out. She's happy that Ruby has made friends here and has someone she can call her best friend."

She looked at the two sisters, Ruby was currently trying to get away from Yang as she pinched her cheeks and continued to tease her. "It's hard to remain in any kind of a dark mood around those two, isn't it?"

Blake chuckled her agreement. "I think we lucked out for partners. And friends."

Weiss stood and opened her locker and reached up to undo the pins at the collar of the cloak. "Well, I had better get dressed before she can tease me anymore about that at least."

"Look Ruby, she's naked," Yang declared, turning her sister and giving her a gentle push in that direction. "You can return that hug from earlier and there's no towel in the way this time."

"Stop it!" Ruby shouted, picking up Weiss's discarded towel and throwing it at her. "Or do I have to call Dad and tell him the score of your last history test?"

"You wouldn't?"

Ruby folder her arms across her chest and gave Yang a smirk. "Try me sis."

Yang returned an evil grin. "Yeah, well I'll tell him his youngest daughter is going on a date and I won't tell him with who."

"...Yaaaannnnngggg!" Ruby growled.

"Alright you," Blake said as she grabbed Yang's arm and started to haul her away. "You've had your fun. Time to go back to the room."

"But Blake, I'm her big sister! I have to tease her...it's like a rule or something."

"Behave yourself or I won't go with you for a ride on your bike this weekend."

"...But you promised!" the blonde whined, looking stricken. "It took me weeks to get you to agree."

The brunette shrugged "Your choice."

In the end the idea of her partner sitting behind her on the bike with her arms looped around her won out. "So mean," she muttered, relenting. "Fine, you win."

Once they were out of sight Ruby plopped down on the bench. "Ugh. She's lucky I love her so much or else the next time we spar I'd give her a haircut with Crescent Rose. With my Semblance she'd never catch me."

Weiss had managed to get into her underwear and was putting on her uniform shirt. "I don't even want to contemplate how much damage she'd do if that happened."

"Heh, yeah I don't think there'd be a school left," Ruby chuckled. "Maybe I'll short sheet her bed. Or put pudding in her boots."

Weiss couldn't entirely contain the snort of laughter that escaped her. "That _would_ be funny."

"Pudding it is then!" Ruby declared.

"You're actually going to do it?" she asked as she put on her skirt and zipped it up.

"She's got it coming," Ruby grinned.

She sat down to put on her socks and shoes. "I'll help then. I'm feeling like a little payback is in order. And I'd love to see the look on her face."

"Deal."

Weiss stood and put on her uniform jacket, then her cloak. It didn't go as well with her uniform as Ruby's did, and would look much better with her Huntress outfit, but she didn't care. She picked up her books and closed the locker.

"Ready to come home?" Ruby asked with a smile as she stood.

Weiss returned the smile. "I am."

They walked out, placing the used towels in the laundry bin as they went. It was a pleasant night out, clear with the stars shining. Even the broken moon looked less ominous somehow. It was a good end to what had been a bad twenty four hours.

"I was wondering about something," Ruby said as they walked.

"What about?" Weiss asked.

"What did Yang mean about the upholstery matching?" she asked innocently. "I don't get it."

* * *

 **AN:** I may have gotten a little long winded but...meh. The consequence of not writing in a while. I was hoping to show where Weiss is now compared to where she started, the changes she has undergone, what she has gained and that sometimes it takes the threat of losing it to realize it.

People will either get it or won't. Who knows, I may be the only one who thinks it doesn't suck.

As mentioned above, reviews would be appreciated. It does help motivate me to write more.

And while you're hanging around, feel free to check out my other work.


End file.
